Monday, October 17, 2011

In my small Innovative Fiber Art group, Polly Duggan shared with us a twisted tree technique that she had learned from another quilter friend, Jackie Watkins. We used batiks for the trees because batiks have the same coloration on the back as well as the front. Starting with 1" strips of fabric, we dampened our fingers and rolled the strips into tight little "snakes" (remember making snakes from clay when you were a kid?). To assemble my tree, I first prepared a background (sky and ground) with batting and backing and quilted it. This was secured to a foamcore board so that the tree could be created onto the board. Although this seems backward, we began at the outer end of each branch
and worked toward the trunk, adding and combining pieces to create the
trunk down to the roots. After pinning the branches to the board, the piece was taken to the sewing machine to sew the branches. I added small twigs to indicate a bare, leafless tree. A barn and silo in the left background completed the piece.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Well, I like the piece and had enjoyed hand-embroidering it over a period of six months before layering and machine quilting it. (Silk With Stitches in previous blog post.) The center section is collaged silks I dyed, and the border (also backing) is a high-quality hand-dyed cotton sateen (by Heide Stoll-Weber). I posted it in a critique group I am in and received several affirming bits of feedback, along with some reservations:
"Love the spontaneous feel to your piece and use of color but my eye stops in the lower R corner."
" I found the center totally mesmerizing, dreamlike."
" I love the flow of your piece. The silks are beautiful and your stitching and embroidery choices are perfect. The center design is powerful and the borders frame it nicely. I did not stop at the lower right corner because my eye found the blue silk in the bottom third of the center."
Getting feedback from my peers is a great way to learn what another artist sees. I didn't enter it in the quilt show expecting anything more than another artist's viewpoint. Imagine my surprise as well as puzzlement when the judging sheet read these eleven words.
Visual Impact: Soft
Technical Construction: Too mixed and too distracting
Quilting: Fair
Additional Comments: Nice blend of colors
It's certainly a good thing that I don't place much importance on judges' remarks! I haven't figured out what a "soft" visual impact is other than her way of saying she didn't like it. Although she thought it "too mixed and too distracting," she complimented the "nice blend of colors." These statements seem contradictory, but they reinforce my thinking: Never Be Surprised at Judges' Comments!

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